Cocktail Sugars

[Paulo Freitas]

First of all I feel honored that a post of mine got answered by Mr. Wondrich, what a great way to start a day

Is it possible the "açucar mascavo" is actually muscovado?

I thought so, and if it's true, down to its definition, muscovado should be a synonymous to piloncillo too. As far as I understand the key point is that it doesn't pass through a centrifuge.

[bostonapothecary]

Interesting take on the liqueurs. In the case of the Grand Marnier, I wonder if they're using blending sugar as they used to do in Cognac, where a raw sugar was made into a thin syrup and then barrel aged before being blended in (some Cognac houses still do this).

i'm curious as to whether cognac can use a "raw" aromatic sugar because they have various sets of laws that try and maintain some artistic constraint.

hannum and blumberg's "brandies and liqueurs of the world" (1976) which is the greatest book on spirits ever written, mentions "a 1921 decree forbids 'manipulations and practices designed to improve and increase the aroma of natural eaux-de-vie, in order to deceive the purchaser regarding their substantial qualities, origin, and type.' It is nevertheless permitted, according to both judicial and administrative decisions, to add four substances to cognac prior to bottling: distilled water, caramel, sugar, and an infusion of oak."

so they can add sugar but i'd assume to follow the decree it would have to be bleached and non-aromatic. hannum and blumberg say they can add "2% by volume", but i think they mean by weight, but regardless that is in and around 20 grams / liter which seems like a lot to me. my understanding is that these brandies can pick up substantial tannin and acidity (relative to other distillates) from the wood and any sugar might be added in good taste.

not to get too far off the sugar topic, but i've been drinking a lot of the renegade rums lately and i'm convinced that one of the ways they are making a market for these rums that some people would deem too "sweet" (probably olfactory sweetness) is to add acidity to them.

they have a strange sensation of dryness, that isn't related to the proof or the nature of the aromas. i wonder if there is precipitated tartaric acid in the finishing barrels that gets redissolved by the rum.

tricky business if you need to follow artistic constraints but i love the effect. gorgeous rums.

[rancho_gordo]

If "regular sugar" = "refined white sugar," sulfur is irrelevant. It's not used in industrial sugar production, at least not in the US, Canada or the EU. The typical precipitant in refining sugar is calcium hydroxide, otherwise known as "lime," the same chemical used to transform ground corn into masa seca.

At one time, calcium sulfate (CaSO4) was employed -- at one point, not four, in the process -- to refine sugar (perhaps it still in some areas), but it's a stretch to infer that 1) CaSO4 is the same thing as "sulfur," since it comprises one part calcium, one part sulfur, and four parts oxygen; 2) it's necessarily harmful -- CaSO4 is used to create tofu, among other things; 3) it's some sort of weird invention of food science. It occurs naturally, as do many other "additives" -- and as do snakes.

Thank you for this! I was repeating some translated information and clearly I should stick to flavor.

[Kent Wang]

Kent--

That Mauritius Demerara is a particularly raw version Brooklyn Brewery brings in in bulk for brewing; occasionally some of it escapes into the wild. Most Demerara sugar is from Mauritius these days, although if you have access to a good Caribbean market you can sometimes get the stuff from Demerara/Guyana, which is excellent.

Ah, thanks. Do you know which beer it was going into? I would guess the Belgian style ones, like Brooklyn Local 2.

[Mark Muller]

Has anyone with the Rancho Gordo pilloncillo compared it with its more easily available brethren? I understand that it is granulated instead of a fudgy cone, but how does the taste compare?

As for myself, I do like the piloncillo I get from my local grocery stores, and I haven't yet met a palm sugar I don't like. The ones available in my local asian grocery stores span a pretty large spectrum of flavors. I especially like a very dark palm sugar from Indonesia that I can't seem to find anymore. I find all of these distinctly stronger tasting than anything labeled "turbinado" or "demerara".

[Chris Amirault]

I find it to be significantly more rich and complex. I should say that I've never had any quality piloncillo besides this one....

[Bhukhhad]

Friends at Egullet, 

I saw some posts on cocktail sugars. I want to mix jaggery with vodka. Has anyone tried it? 
what does the mix taste like? I am trying to make something closer to port or cognac for a recipe challenge, but not trying to make port or cognac per se. 
any ideas? 
Bhukkhad

[blue_dolphin]

1 hour ago, Bhukhhad said:

Friends at Egullet, 

I saw some posts on cocktail sugars. I want to mix jaggery with vodka. Has anyone tried it? 
what does the mix taste like? I am trying to make something closer to port or cognac for a recipe challenge, but not trying to make port or cognac per se. 
any ideas? 
Bhukkhad

 

I've used jaggery to make spiced syrups to add to Old Fashioned-type drinks or in making a hot toddy.  I think it lent a bit of warmth but the ginger or black cardamom were the main flavor elements.   I'm no pro, but I'd guess that a drink would get too sweet before there was enough other flavor from the jaggery alone to make a big difference.  

You can also find a few mentions if you search this topic:  (Not So) Simple, Flavored, & Spiced Syrups for jaggery

[Bhukhhad]

58 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

I've used jaggery to make spiced syrups to add to Old Fashioned-type drinks or in making a hot toddy.  I think it lent a bit of warmth but the ginger or black cardamom were the main flavor elements.   I'm no pro, but I'd guess that a drink would get too sweet before there was enough other flavor from the jaggery alone to make a big difference.  

You can also find a few mentions if you search this topic:  (Not So) Simple, Flavored, & Spiced Syrups for jaggery

Thank you